


Holidays

by skiittlebox



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, all i want for christmas is you to consider this ship, ensemble square? dont know her, hinatas here too, i was smiling like an idiot while writing this. oh my god they are So Soft, just a lot of fluff, postgrad, subtle hints of angst but not enough to ruin christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21863116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skiittlebox/pseuds/skiittlebox
Summary: after being invited to spend the holidays with midori and his family, yuuta decides to find the thing his father never let him look for: the meaning of christmas.it's more complicated than he thought.
Relationships: Aoi Yuuta/Takamine Midori
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> knowledge of "strawberries" is not needed for this fic, but there are some references to it. "red" can be taken as either "canon" or not in this fic, it really depends on you, nor are there any references to it.

From outside the windows in the hallway, the sight of snow gently drifting to the ground could be seen, and from inside the building the excited chatter of students rang through the halls and into the classrooms.

It was the start of winter break, and everyone knew it.

Just the thought of winter break starting was something Midori enjoyed. There would be no more schoolwork he’d have to complete, and there was definitely less work to do with the family business during winter: it was hard to grow and sell vegetables in the winter, after all. Of course, his home workload had been reduced dramatically ever since his old unit leader had talked with his parents and agreed to let Midori pursue his dreams at Yumenosaki.

But of course, it would be different this year. It always would be different compared to last year.

Like always, he found his mind wandering to his seniors. Chiaki and Kanata were off in the world, doing their own things now. But something about not seeing them this time of year, not doing a holiday live show like they did last year… it felt weird to him. The absence of Chiaki reminding him for the fifth time that day to get to practice and dragging him along without say was something he missed, and Kanata’s cryptic yet soothing nature, along with rescuing him from the freezing fountain was also gone.

And then there was Yuuta, who was right beside him.

Last year, he remembered that Ryuseitai and 2wink did a joint live together for the holidays, and back then, Yuuta was only someone he talked to on occasion. Now this holiday season, not only was Yuuta a person he talked to more often, but he was even more than a friend. Ever since starting their second years at Yumenosaki, they had been in a relationship together. Midori and Yuuta were seen together quite often, even outside of the classroom they now shared. Dropping by to each other’s unit practices, sitting together at lunch, and even walking home together: ever since they started dating, they had hit it off pretty nicely.

It was the first holiday season they would share together, so Midori was already running ideas through his mind on how to spend it with not only his family, but his boyfriend as well. Maybe he could ask his parents to invite Yuuta over for Christmas... it would be a nice way to get the best of both worlds.

He looked over to Yuuta. He was taller than he was last year by a long shot: both him and Hinata had grown about six centimeters since their first days at Yumenosaki. Along with his height, his hair had grown out a fair bit as well, evident by the ponytail Yuuta kept tied off at the back of his head. Otherwise, he looked the same as last year with those blue headphones and hair pins. Yuuta’s head was slightly down, like he was looking at his feet or a distance ahead of him on the floor.

Compared to the excitement around him, Yuuta looked absolutely gloomy. It was worrisome to Midori. Wasn’t Yuuta excited about the holidays coming up?

Midori gently tapped Yuuta’s arm with his finger. Almost instantly after the motion, Yuuta’s head jerked up to his with a quiet, surprised squeal. “Uh, Midori-kun…! Do you need anything?”

“Yeah… I was wondering about something.” He clasped his hands together behind his back and looked out the windows, the snow still gently falling. “You looked kind of… down, considering that everyone else is so happy… is something bothering you, Yuuta-kun?”

Yuuta lightly chuckled and swatted his hand in front of him. “Nah, everything’s fine over here. Why would I be upset today?” His focus turned towards the window, the small smile he had before fading as he watched the snowflakes fall.

Midori sighed and put one of his hands on Yuuta’s shoulders. “You’re really bad at lying, y’know… c’mon, you know you can tell me anything… if you’re depressed it makes me depressed, too...”

A heavy sigh from Yuuta. “Midori-kun, you always worry too much about me.” His green eyes met Midori’s blue ones. “Really. Why would I be upset about anything? It’s the holidays, the happiest time of the year!”

“Because you’re looking out the window with a downcast face… is it something with Hinata-kun? Or your fath- uh, home guardian?”

Yuuta crossed his arms. “No, Aniki and I aren’t fighting or anything, and I couldn’t give less of a damn about that monster… so there’s really nothing to be weighing on me right now, is there?” He brushed Midori’s hand off his shoulder. “Really, you always worry about me too much. Just relax for a second, if there was something wrong I’d tell you.”

A lull fell between them as Midori soaked in Yuuta’s response. Ever since last year’s Setsubun Festival, Yuuta and Hinata had been getting along much nicer than they were last year. Occasionally, they would bicker due to unit issues, especially now with Yuuta being the leader of 2wink. Other times, it was over class material as Hinata was also part of the 2-B classroom along with Yuuta and Midori. But apart from the little things that were resolved within the week, the two twins were finally the two-in-one idol unit they advertised themselves as.

And it was true that Midori worried too much about Yuuta: even he could admit that to himself. After all, Yuuta was the first person to his knowledge that actually liked him, unlike all the girls who were after him but backed out later due to his “boring” personality. Something about the fact that Yuuta truly enjoyed his company made Midori want to hold onto this thing they had. He also couldn’t deny that Yuuta was cute and made him happy, just like a mascot character.

“...if you say so...” He tugged on the blue tie tucked under his black sweater, slightly buried by his green plaid scarf wrapped around his neck. “Do you wanna walk home with me? Or do you have something going on today?”

Yuuta twiddled his index fingers together. “I’m going to be busy with unit practice, so I can’t walk with you today. But surely we’ll see each other over the break? Especially considering our units are doing a live show during break, after all.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “So, I guess I’ll see you la-”

Midori stopped for a second, grabbing Yuuta’s arm in the process. “Yuuta-kun, wait a second.”

Yuuta turned around, eyes intent on Midori.

“Well, I wanted to ask you something first. I’m sure my parents will be fine with it, so… would you maybe want to come over to my place during Christmas?” His smile was sheepish, and his cheeks were dusted pink. “I think it would be fun to spend the day together…”

A few seconds passed with no answer from Yuuta, but he was answered with a smile, along with Yuuta gently laying his arms on Midori’s shoulders. “Of course I would. Surely only being around Aniki for the month would drive me insane, hmm?” On Yuuta’s face was a slight smirk and those playful eyes that shimmered with mischief.

Midori slowly wrapped his arms around Yuuta’s waist and inched his face a little closer to Yuuta’s. “Alright then, it’s a date.” He quickly planted a kiss on Yuuta’s lips. “See you on Christmas, then?”

Yuuta laughed and winked, closing the gap between him and Midori’s noses. “On Christmas.” He removed his arms from Midori’s shoulders and stepped back. “Do you want me to bring anything?”

“Just bring yourself, my family and me are going to be doing all the prep work… my brother’s coming home from college, too.” He quietly laughed. “You know, I think he’s excited to meet you, given that I talk about you so often whenever we call each other over the phone…”

A small squeak from Yuuta. “Surely whatever you’re saying about me are good things, right?!” He rocked back and forth on his heels. “Now I’m kinda nervous about this… your family must think really highly of me if they’re okay with me intruding on your family gathering. I mean, I’ve met your parents before, but I’ve never really met them if you know what I’m trying to say. Are you sure I don’t need to do anything special? Like bring an appetizer or dress up?”

Midori gave Yuuta a gentle smile. “Relax, Yuuta-kun. Just show up at my place, that’s all you need to do…” He put a hand on Yuuta’s shoulder. “It’s not a formal thing either, it’s only a little family dinner… it’ll be fine.”

Yuuta exhaled slowly with a hand on his chest. “Well that’s good to hear…” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his blazer. “I guess I’ll see you on Christmas then. Have a nice few days of break before that, too!”

“You too.” Midori smiled, waved, and started off towards the front end of the school building.

Now alone, Yuuta’s smile faded and his eyes went from excited to downcast. He kicked a crumpled piece of paper at his feet down the hall and sighed.

He didn’t know anything about the holidays.

Ever since his mother died, his father had absolutely no interest or intent on celebrating the holidays. He was young when his mother died, and only held a few blurry and wobbly memories of what families did around this time of year. If he looked far down into his memories, maybe he saw a tree decorated with glass orbs and wrapped in fuzzy tinsel… 

He slammed his back against the lockers behind him and slid down them, eventually reaching the floor where he put his arms around his knees, face buried in them. It felt so unfair to him, how everyone else around him was getting ready to spend time with their families, sharing memories at parties and gatherings, while he was stuck here without a clue on what Christmas was, lost in time to a tyrant who never loved him.

Midori was right: something was bothering him, and what bothered him was this. He’d probably go to Midori’s place and mess something up terribly, and then his family would see that he was an incapable fool and they’d forbid him and Midori from ever seeing each other ever again…

It was stupid. He wanted to know about Christmas, but he wasn’t allowed to learn.

“Why did she have to go…”

“Aaaand… cut! I think that should do it for today, don’t you think?”

Yuuta wrapped a towel around his neck and turned to Hinata, who was already chugging down a bottle of water. Hinata capped the bottle and winked. “Yeah! With all of this practice we’re getting in during break, we’re sure to win the upcoming S2 this break!”

“Mhmm…” Yuuta took a water bottle of his own and gingerly took a swig of it. “What other units are taking part in this, again?”

Hinata put a finger under his chin. “Hmm… I know that Trickstar and Ryuseitai are participating for sure with us… oh, and Ra*bits, too!” He hummed with a smile. “Not a huge lineup, but it’s still sure to be exciting!” He slid over to Yuuta and jabbed him in the stomach with an elbow. “Just don’t get too distracted by your Midori-kun~”

Yuuta’s face went red as he grabbed the water bottle tighter in his left hand. “H-hey, that’s not why I’m asking, you jerk…!”

The older of the two sat down in a chair against the wall and laughed. “I’m only teasing, don’t get all cute and pouty with me, Yuuta-kun~” He took another sip from his water bottle. “So, Christmas is tomorrow, yeah? It’s Christmas Eve, after all. You wanna head somewhere on Christmas and entertain the people on the streets?”

“I mean, that sounds fun, but…” He sighed. “Nevermind. It’s not important.”

“Yuuta-kun, are you going on a date? That’s what you always say whenever Midori-kun asks you out~” He stood up and invaded Yuuta’s personal space, his face inches away from his brother’s. “Where are you going? What are you doing? What time are you-”

Yuuta gently pushed Hinata away from him. “Aniki, don’t be so pushy. It’s nothing special, really… all Midori-kun did was ask me if I wanted to come over to his place for Christmas to have dinner with his fami-”

He was interrupted by a long and sharp gasp from Hinata.

Yuuta just stared at him.

“So you’re telling me… that Midori-kun asked you to have dinner with his family?!”

The younger of them pulled on his ponytail and shrugged. “I mean, yeah, that’s what he said. I don’t think it’s that big of-”

He was interrupted by Hinata scooping him up into a spine-crushing hug. “Oh, Yuuta-kun! You’re practically married already!” He dropped Yuuta and put a hand on his own forehead. “Such a happy couple you two are… and now you’re newlyweds!” He turned around and tapped his chin. “I think you’ll have seven kids and thirteen cats, and you’ll live in a beautiful house in Hokkaido, and-”

“Aniki, shut up!” Yuuta lunged towards Hinata and smacked his hand over his lips. “We’ve only been dating for ten months, and we’re both still high school students, we can’t afford a wedding, more or less a house or even an apartment!” He took his hand off of Hinata’s lips and sighed. “You’re way too into this thing we have… it’s like you’re a girl reading those stupid boy on boy romance novels…”

Hinata simply laughed. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just that I’m happy for you guys, y’know? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so happy.” He sat back down in the chair and crossed his legs. “So, about that date with Midori-kun.”

Yuuta took a drink from his water bottle and shrugged. “All I’m doing is going over to his place and having a little dinner. That’s all.” He sighed. “But… I’m also really worried about it, too.”

“Hmm?”

Yuuta set the bottle on the floor and sat down, legs crossed. “We… don’t really know much about Christmas, Aniki. Ever since she died, that is…”

Hinata was silent, eyes falling. Hinata especially didn’t like talking about their mother.

“What if I mess something up because of this? I mean, Midori-kun and his family celebrate the holidays every year so they know everything about it… and I don’t.” Yuuta cupped his head in his hands. “He told me everything would be fine and I didn’t need to do anything special, but this is a special time of year and it feels so wrong to just… show up empty handed.” He ran his left hand through the front part of his hair. “I feel like I need to at least do something… you know?”

Hinata crossed his arms. “Well, what do people like to do on Christmas?”

Yuuta limply shrugged. “That’s the problem, I’m not sure.”

The older of the two put a finger up. “Aha! What about a gift? You know how Santa-san gave you gifts when you were younger?”

“That was you in the Santa-san outfit, Aniki.”

Hinata swatted his hand. “Nah, it wasn’t! But people like giving gifts to friends and family on Christmas!” He leaped out of the chair towards his bag, and started fishing through it. “No, nope, not there… ah!” He pulled out a little box with a pink bow placed upon it. “Like this! See, Tetsu-kun gave this present to me because we’re friends.” He shook it around violently. “He said I couldn't open it until Christmas! So unfair…”

Yuuta hummed lowly. “So, I should give Midori-kun a gift for him to open on Christmas?”

He still heard the violent shaking of a box from across the room, where Hinata was still at it. “Yeah! At least, that’s what I would do for my partner.” He chuckled a bit as he set the box down. “And knowing Midori-kun, it should be easy to pick out a gift for him, shouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so…” He stood up, tightened his ponytail, and grabbed his bag. “Well, I suppose we should change and head home now. It gets so dark so early this time of year, now that it’s winter and it’ll get cold soon.”

Yuuta took his bag and exited the practice room they were using. Almost nobody else was in the school building, so it gave him some alone time to think without interruptions. Buying Midori a gift for the holidays didn’t seem like a bad idea, and it was also something friends and family did for each other, too.

Was this what Christmas was? Was it gifts? It sounded right, given that children would receive rewards in the form of presents for being good that year…

He took off the light sweatshirt he had been wearing for practice, folded it up, and placed it in his bag along with taking out some jeans and a long sleeve shirt, along with a heavier coat. As he put his street clothes over the light and thin practice clothes he wore, his mind started to wander again. Should he dress up nicely? He knew Midori’s parents, sure, but this was the first time he’d really get to know them, along with the first time he’d meet Midori’s older brother. Making a good first impression on them seemed important, but Midori had told him that it would be okay if he didn’t dress up…

How was Midori so casual with this? It was his family after all, but shouldn't he at least know how he was feeling? It felt wrong to him to show up to a dinner date at his boyfriend’s house wearing some old blue jeans, sneakers, and a random coat from the coathanger he grabbed before leaving that could even be Hinata’s…

He zipped up the heavy jacket he slipped on and threw his bag back over his back. He re-entered the room, and Hinata was all changed as well. They nodded at each other, then left the room together and exited the school building. While they were walking on the campus grounds, Yuuta could see the beautiful light displays by the shopping district a few streets down…

“Hey, Aniki?” Yuuta stopped and stuffed his hands into his pockets, breath condensing in front of him. “Do you mind if I go visit the shopping district for a little bit? You can go ahead home without me.”

Hinata checked his phone, then smiled. “Well, it’s not terribly late out yet, so that’s fine! Please make sure you’re back before eight, though? It’ll get really dark soon, and you look super tired.”

Yuuta nodded. “Right. I shouldn’t be that long, even. Maybe only half an hour… in that case, see you at home.” He smiled, then started off in the other direction Hinata went.

Alone, Yuuta walked in relative silence to the shopping district, towards the sound of the jolly music the shopping district played. The shopping district was like an outside shopping mall, decorated with beautiful lights and covered in a warm glow. It made him feel light and joyful: is this what people felt on Christmas?

He wandered around the area along with many other shoppers and families. There was a good number of shops that made up the line of retailers to check out. Along the way, he looked over to his left and spotted the Takamine residence, and if he maybe peered closely into the window, he could see the silhouettes of Midori and his family enjoying the holiday season together, preparing for the night ahead of them tomorrow...

Yuuta tore his attention from the window. He wasn’t here to admire his boyfriend, but he was here to find him the perfect gift. He continued down the row of storefronts, leaving the roofed area of the shopping district and entered the downtown district. This was the part of town where last year, him, Hinata, and Ryuseitai did their “Eve of the Eve” live show. He kicked his shoes through the snow on the sidewalk remembering it: him and Midori weren’t as close back then, and neither were him and Hinata, still in the middle of their huge fight.

He stopped at the corner of the block upon seeing the store in front of him, one that looked like it sold soft things and plushies: exactly what he needed. He entered the store, walked into the first aisle he saw, and examined all the plushies on the shelves. He knew that Midori had a preference towards creatures that barely resembled any living thing on the planet, but also knew that he was fine with things like cats, rabbits, or anything soft and fluffy. Practically anything in the store could suffice.

After wandering the aisles, he picked up a plushie that resembled a green and blue rabbit. Not only did Midori seem to like rabbits, but he hoped that Midori would see the other reason he picked it: green and blue, the colors fans associated them with the most together. Along the way, he also grabbed some smaller toys that really didn’t have a clear species: just the ones that Midori liked.

Arms full, he made towards the checkout desk. As far as he knew, he was the only person in the store at the moment so there was no line or wait to get his gifts purchased. The person working at the store was a regular in the downtown area and recognized Yuuta due to him and Hinata often performing in the area, so he chatted with the woman a bit before paying, taking his bags, and exiting.

Outside, Yuuta sighed and took a seat on the bench on the side of the road. He set the bags down next to him, leaning back. His breath slowly condensed in front of him, leaving his lips as trails of white before rising and vanishing away. He could see the faint sparkle of snowflakes before his eyes, and clearly in the street lights where the crystals were illuminated and sparkled under the spotlight made for them.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong.

But how? He had bought Midori some gifts, just like friends did on Christmas. Wasn’t that the key to all of this? Why did he feel like something was missing still, even after he had done?

He dug into his back pocket and pulled his phone out. The time was only seven-thirty, so he still had some wiggle room to find out what to do before he started to worry Hinata. He put the phone back into his pocket and took his hair out of the ponytail it had been in, all to comb his fingers through it, tips at his shoulders.

His eyes slowly closed as he stretched, and he could feel the soreness and pain from tonight’s live practice session. He put his hands behind his head and his mind started racing, trying to find any memories of a Christmas he had with his family before his mother died to find that something he felt he was still missing. It was hard to tell if what he would sometimes see was either a real memory he had, or his imagination trying to envision a memory he never had, in an effort to fill up a blank space these moments should’ve been in, obscured by tinsel and colorful lights...

“...hey, wake up.”

Yuuta’s eyes slowly opened to the dark sky above him, and he could see a few snowflakes dusting his eyelashes. He turned next to him, and there was the woman from the store standing behind the bench, leaning forward to better meet his eyes.

“You fell asleep here, didn’t you?” She raised her arms over the bench and set his bags down next to him. “I kept these safe for you so they wouldn’t get stolen.”

Yuuta slowly took the bags into his hands and bowed his head down. “Oh, uh… thank you.”

The woman smiled at him. “No problem. Have a good holiday season.”

She walked off, and Yuuta held the bags close to his chest. With his other hand, he fished out his phone from his pocket, and along with the time reading almost ten at night, he quietly swore to himself as he read his notifications,all from Hinata:

“where are you?”

“yuuta kun you havent been kidnapped right?”

“YUUUUUUUUUTAAAAAAA KUUUUUUUUUUUN DID YOU BLOCK ME AGAIN >:(”

“yuuta kun if you dont respond im calling the police please respond >.<”

Yuuta sighed, opened his message app, and started typing in response to his brother’s anxiety.

“sorry aniki, accidentally fell asleep somewhere. should be home around ten-fifteen.”

He hit send, then tapped out of the conversation with Hinata and tapped his conversation with Midori and slowly scrolled up. It was something he liked to do sometimes, to look at the messages and pictures they’d send each other while they were away from each other: it made him smile. He scrolled to the bottom of the message chain, towards the most recent messages, and saw a text Midori had sent an hour ago he hadn’t noticed buried in Hinata’s paranoid notification spam.

“See you tomorrow! <3 My brother just came back an hour ago and he’s really excited to meet you! Have a good night, I love you”

Yuuta stared at the message for a while in silence, then tapped out and back to Hinata’s.

“change of thought, im heading to midori kuns tonight. will probably spend the night there. sorry about this.”

Not even a minute after sending the message, his phone buzzed with a reply.

“its ok, stay safe yuuta kun! i love you lots! ^w^”

Yuuta smiled and shook his head, then stuffed the phone back into his pocket. He stood up, grabbed the gift bags, then started off towards the shopping district. It wasn’t very far from downtown, so he would be at Midori’s within the little time of what remained in the hour.

The lights were still on when he got to the shopping district, but there were way less people: he was the only person he could even see, for the matter. He approached the greengrocer’s shop, pulled out his phone, then sent a text to Midori about the situation and request to stay.

While he waited, he examined the area around him. All of the shop windows were closed and dark, and he could still see the gentle snow falling outside the mall-like complex.

Yuuta was still looking at the snowflakes when he heard the door unlock and slowly open. Peeking out from the inside was Midori. “Yuuta-kun, you’re here? I know you told me you were, but… it’s kinda late out, don’t you think?”

“I know it is, that’s why I’m asking to stay tonight. It’ll be ten-thirty when I get home, and it’s too dark to walk home, anyway.”

Midori nodded. “I understand… you gotta be quiet, though. My parents and brother are upstairs.” He opened the door all the way, and motioned Yuuta to come in.

Yuuta entered Midori’s home, closing the door behind him and hanging his heavy coat on the wall. From there, Midori led Yuuta to his room, where Yuuta set down the bags on Midori’s bed in a place not covered by mascot characters. He sat down on Midori’s bed as well.

He looked around his boyfriend’s room. The walls were a light green, and lots of his bed, his desk, and even the floor had plushies and mascots strewn about. On his desk was some schoolwork and a framed photo of Ryuseitai, his old unit leader front and center. The lights in the room were off, but a lamp on the desk was providing all the illumination in the room, bathed in a soft orange glow. Draped over his desk chair was his school blazer and tie, black sweater nowhere to be seen: Midori was still wearing the sweater, he remembered when he came in.

Midori came back with some clothes in his arms, which he set on his bed near Yuuta. “I figured that since you weren’t planning to stay over you don’t have any clothes for the night… go ahead and borrow some of mine.” His attention was grabbed by the bags. “Oh? Yuuta-kun, what’s in the bags?”

Yuuta scooted the bags behind his back. “Nothing. Just some, uh… stuff I was planning to bring home.”

Midori didn’t seem convinced as he leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of the bags. Again, Yuuta moved the bags away from Midori’s sight.

“Uh, whatever’s in those bags must be a huge secret… is it for Hinata-kun?”

Yuuta was silent for a moment, but it was broken by a groan. “No, it’s not… it’s actually for… it’s for you. For Christmas.” He pulled the bags out from behind him, then presented them to Midori. “I didn’t want you to open these before Christmas, but I’ve already lost this fight, haven’t I?” A quiet laugh. “Go ahead and open them if you want. It’s close enough to Christmas, anyway.”

Midori took the bags into his hands and smiled. “Yuuta-kun… thank you…!” He slowly removed all the parchment paper from the bag, then pulled out the rabbit plushie. “Aah…! It’s so cute!” He hugged it close to his chest, holding it in front of him. “And it’s green and blue, just like how I’m green and you’re blue…” Midori’s eyes, waving with tears, met Yuuta’s. “Thank you, Yuuta-kun…!” He started to pull out the remaining toys, and he continued to fanboy over the characters, even naming some of them on the spot.

Yuuta was smiling at the sight, and his chest felt so free: it felt so odd to him, but he loved the feeling. Something about making someone happy also made him happy…

He felt Midori lean forward and gently hug him. “Thank you, Yuuta-kun… I love them all so much!” He pulled back from the hug, then noticed Yuuta’s bittersweet smile. “Um, are you okay? You look kind of… troubled. Still.”

“No, nothing’s wrong. We talked about this earlier, remember?”

Midori hugged his new friends closer to him and shook his head. “Yuuta-kun, there’s something bothering you, you’ve been acting this way before break started. Please, tell me. It’s the holidays, you shouldn’t be sad or troubled… you being depressed makes me depressed...”

Yuuta simply stared at Midori in silence, his mind running with thoughts. Should he even tell Midori what was going on? It would be embarrassing, especially after what had happened for him to say he didn’t know what Christmas really was after presenting Midori with gifts, a Christmas tradition…

But he could see the worry in Midori’s eyes. All of the life that they had held when he was opening the gifts was long gone.

It was time to bite the bullet, whether he wanted to or not.

Yuuta slowly fell back onto Midori’s bed. “...that’s it. The holidays.”

Silence from Midori, but Yuuta felt the bed move beside him, and Midori by his side.

“...ever since she died, my family never really celebrated Christmas. I don’t have any memories of what Christmas is… I really don’t know what Christmas is.” He sat up and met Midori’s gaze. “I thought that Christmas was getting gifts for friends and family, but even after I bought you your gifts… something still felt missing. It didn’t truly feel like Christmas. That can’t be all there is to it.” He sighed, leaning against Midori’s shoulder. “And I’m worried that I’ll mess up your family thing tomorrow because of that…” He sniffled and rubbed his eyes. “I probably already messed this up, and I’m sorry-”

“Yuuta-kun, hush.” Midori put an arm around Yuuta and rubbed his shoulder. “Don’t cry now. While part of Christmas is about giving gifts to the people you love, the real magic of the holidays comes from something you already know… and that’s spending time with those people you love. Surely you and your mother spent time as a family together when she was here… and you and your brother have that, too…” He put his head against Yuuta’s. “Like right now, too. Christmas is a time to be around the people that make your life special, to celebrate with them… it’s not just getting stuff under the tree.”

Yuuta moved his head to meet Midori’s eyes, tears still running down his face. “So… that’s all there is to Christmas? I wouldn’t have ever known… that monster never really was my family.” He straightened himself back up. “I think you make my life special, Midori-kun… so I wanna spend Christmas with you…”

Midori laughed and removed his hand from Yuuta’s shoulder to hug the rabbit plushie while using his other hand to dry Yuuta’s cheek with his sleeve. “Don’t forget about Hinata-kun, too… I’m sure he makes your life special, too.” He stood up and rummaged through his desk drawer. “That’s why my brother comes back every year for Christmas: to spend time with us.” He grabbed something in the desk, then walked back to the bed and sat down next to Yuuta again. “Do you want to learn a little more about Christmas? A special tradition?”

Yuuta nodded.

He held his hand up, and between Midori’s fingers, between them, was a small plant with two pointy leaves and red berries in the center. “This plant is mistletoe, but you probably knew that... people like to hang this above doorways… it’s just like strawberries.” He winked at Yuuta as he said this.

The mistletoe was red, just like strawberries. Slowly, Yuuta leaned forward, craning his head upwards and opening his mouth.

“No, you don’t eat mistletoe… it’s poisonous, after all… if you died before Christmas, I’d be really depressed…”

Yuuta shrugged. “Then what am I supposed to do with it if I can’t eat it?”

Midori laughed. “The other kind of strawberry, Yuuta-kun.”

And like that, Yuuta stared into Midori’s eyes and knew exactly what to do.

Slowly, he leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Midori’s neck, and kissed him. He felt Midori embrace him back and melt into the kiss, and the way that Midori held him in his arms made him never want to let go. He could feel Midori smiling against his lips, and he could also pick up on Midori’s heartbeat on his own chest. It was the little things about being close to Midori that were his favorite.

Yuuta broke away for a bit, gazed at Midori’s smile, then fell backwards onto the bed with Midori in tow. A few plushies bounced up and even rolled off the bed with the motion. Midori broke away from the embrace, but only to grab a blanket he set on the foot of his bed and throw it over both of them. He wrapped his arms around Yuuta’s back again and pulled him close. In relative quietness, they stayed this way for a while, embraced together like the other was the only person on the planet.

Yuuta, head nuzzled against Midori’s neck, hummed to break the silence. “I love you, Midori-kun. You know that?” His words were quiet, as to preserve the atmosphere around them.

Midori pecked Yuuta’s cheek with a kiss and softly chuckled. “And I love you too, Yuuta-kun.”

Still embraced with snowflakes glittering outside the window in the soft moonlight, the silence returned. Yuuta didn’t know how long they lay there, but at some point, Midori’s soft snoring was the only thing he could hear in the room. Quitely, Yuuta hummed and set his head on Midori’s chest.

“Merry Christmas, Midori-kun.”

**Author's Note:**

> merry christmas and happy holidays!!


End file.
